Required Years of Experience
2 years
Job Details
About Chai Pani
Chai Pani is an Indian Street Food restaurant that began as a humble, 50-seat restaurant in Asheville, North Carolina in 2009. We’ve since grown to a much larger space in Asheville and opened Chai Panis in Atlanta, GA and Washington, DC, along with 4 locations of our fast-casual concept, Botiwalla.
Chai Pani is the recipient of the James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant in 2022, and has received six other nominations. We've also received a Zagat award, and multiple publications in Bon Appetit, Saveur, Food & Wine, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, Southern Living, USA Today, and were one of Oprah's Favorite Things.
Chai Pani is slang in India for going out for a cup of tea, a tasty bite, a snack, or “a little something.” For us, it means groundbreaking, fun, affordable, and delicious Indian street food, paired with a passion for making people happy and building connections through good food and compassionate hospitality.
If this sounds like a journey you want to take with us—providing extraordinary hospitality and changing the perception of Indian cuisine in America—we are currently accepting applications for the Chef de Cuisine role at our D.C. location.
Position Summary
The Chef de Cuisine (CDC) is the dynamic leader of all day-to-day kitchen operations, combining deep knowledge of the restaurant with strong systems management and hands-on leadership.
This role is responsible for implementing and maintaining kitchen systems, ensuring quality control in line with CPRG recipes and culinary guidelines, and driving organization and efficiency across the BOH.
A highly responsible and self-driven individual, the CDC leads by example—developing the kitchen team through training, delegation, mentorship, and coaching. Key responsibilities include managing food production, BOH financials, and compliance with food safety standards. The CDC also collaborates with the Executive Chef on menu development and new specials, while embodying CPRG’s core values to inspire, motivate, and deliver culinary excellence every day.
Primary Responsibilities
- Hiring and firing of kitchen personnel in partnership with GM
- Scheduling one-on-one “check-ins” with kitchen staff every 6 months
- Managing BOH financials (labor costs, COGS, operating expenses)
- Creating and managing BOH schedules
- Filling in schedule gaps as needed, coordinating with Sous Chefs
- Maintaining a regular presence in the kitchen (at least 4 days a week)
- Hands-on training with new BOH hires
- Food and kitchen supply ordering
- Creation of new specials
- Communicating equipment maintenance and repair needs to GM
- Ensuring kitchen cleanliness after every shift (delegating to MODs and employees)
- Maintaining health inspection readiness; ServSafe certification required
- Overseeing dish room organization and training dish staff
- Personnel management: accountability, attendance, coaching, and mentorship
Other Agreements
- Present in kitchen during scheduled hours
- Schedule and lead regular kitchen meetings
- Attend professional development trainings
- Available to BOH staff for food and personnel matters
- Available to FOH for any food-related questions
Communication
- Weekly check-in with GM
- Weekly management meetings
- Yearly performance review with GM
- Regular check-ins with Executive Chef and CPRG Culinary Leadership
Evaluation Metrics
- Regular visits and feedback from CPRG Culinary Director
- Customer reviews regarding food quality
- COGS and labor numbers
- Employee feedback (workplace environment, morale, smooth operations)
- BOH employee retention
- Cleanliness and organization of kitchen
Schedule
- Weekly hours: 45–50 (up to 55 hours during first 3 months)
- In-restaurant: 5 days/week
- Reports to: General Manager, Executive Chef, CPRG Culinary Leadership
Compensation
Starting salary: from $75,000 annually, with potential for more based on experience and qualifications.
Benefits
- Medical, dental, vision, disability, dependent care FSA, and supplemental life insurance (full-time team members)
- Company-paid life insurance (full and part-time team members)
- Flexible work schedules
- Paid sick days
- Free shift meals
- Employee discount on merch, Spicewalla products, and all of our other restaurant locations in Asheville, Charlotte & Atlanta
- Cash advance program
Compensation Details
Compensation: Salary ($75,000.00)
Benefits & Perks: Health Insurance, Dental Insurance, Vision Insurance, Paid Time Off, Dining Discounts
Required Skills
Leadership
Team Management
Communication Skills
Mentorship
Organizational Skills
Problem Solving
Time Management
Attention to Detail
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Chai Pani is coming to one of D.C.’s most vibrant neighborhoods in the Union Market district, and we’re building a passionate team to bring it to life!
From Bombay to Asheville and Atlanta, Chai Pani has extended our love of food, hospitality, and storytelling to the south’s most essential culinary cities. In 2021, The New York Times included Chai Pani in their prestigious list of America’s Favorite Restaurants. And in 2022, 13 years after we opened our doors and ran out of food midday, Chai Pani Asheville was named Outstanding Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation.
Chai Pani literally means “tea and water.” It's slang in India for going out for a cup of tea, a tasty bite, a snack, or “a little something.” In Downtown Asheville and Downtown Decatur (Atlanta), it means groundbreaking, fun, affordable, and “mindblasting” Indian street food that’s changing the perception of Indian cuisine in America. It means innovative, fun, affordable and delicious Indian cuisine. We'd go so far as to say it's “mindblasting.”
Some of the best food of any country is its street food, and Chai Pani features chaat – crunchy, spicy, sweet, tangy, brightly flavored Indian street snacks. And because there's nothing more comforting and delicious in any culture than a home cooked meal, Chai Pani also brings you thalis – traditional family meals highlighting India's amazing culinary diversity.
In 2009, Chef Meherwan Irani (who grew up in Ahmednagar, in the midwestern state of Maharashtra in India) opened Chai Pani with his wife and business partner, Molly. It was the bottom of the great recession, but they had a crystal clear vision of what Chai Pani could be: They’d serve street food and home-cooked meals — the most underrepresented Indian foods in Western culture — by way of the unparalleled hospitality modeled to Meherwan as a child in his parents’ bed & breakfast. Chai Pani has since been recognized as sparking a revolution in Indian cuisine in America.
